Tag Archive | "Bank of America"

Well, it gets a bit repetitive to write about this but it’s that or spacecrafts following comets(come to think of it, the comet stuff is much more fun). But, here we go again: bankers rip us off and all they need to do is sock it to the shareholders and customers and, presto, Eric Holder and his boss go home happy campers. The Treasury might get a little richer but nothing much will have changed.

One person who is a bit of a hero, I think, in this whole post-financial-crisis-the-bankers-got-away-with-it scam is Jed Rakoff, who sits in the Federal District Court of Manhattan. A few years ago, I wrote that Rakoff understood that the government, our government, and, in particular, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is not serious about holding people accountable for the robbery and greed and incompetence that led to the financial collapse, costing millions of people their jobs and obliterating trillions of dollars in wealth. As Rakoff said, it’s all a show. But, at least, when he can, Rakoff is trying to make it hurt–and, now, to the tune of a $1.9 billion fine against Bank of America.

It would be a great day if just once — just once — the bankers who caused financial mayhem ended up in jail. That’s not going to happen in the latest charges leveled against Bank of America because the charges are civil, not criminal. But, for now, we can feel a smidgen of glee.

When I come back in my next life, I want to be a banker or a hotshot on Wall Street. Because it’s the kind of work where you can do anything you want, break any laws, never get punished and make a huge amount of money. And the best thing is: you make someone else pay for your fuck-ups. That is the upshot of the settlement reached today with the banks. Another day, another sham.

So, it’s easy to capture our predicament today–though you’d never get that from the transcribers of press releases (formerly known as “journalists”). Here is is neatly summed up: we’ve been robbed, only little fish are being held accountable for relatively small crimes and, even more to the point, in a political rhetorical world where shareholders are revered, the shareholders are being left to pay the bill.

It is great that JP Morgan has been sued–and congrats to NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. But, we’ve seen this picture before: suits are filed and the executives who committed fraud or financial crimes or misconduct are NEVER–NEVER–held accountable. If we want real change–not phony, uplifting change–these people must go to jail. NO DEALS.

Hey, Bank of America shareholder, how does it feel to have the executives deceive investors (in other words, lie), escape any personal responsibility for the lies, cause huge losses and, then, stick YOU with a bill for over $2 BILLION? Well, probably not a great feeling but, screw you, you are just an investor, not a coddled, overpaid executive who just got handed a stay-out-of-jail card.

Not surprisingly, Bank of America–one of the truly despicable actors in the mortgage scandal–has violated a deal it struck with the state of Nevada. And Nevada wants to sue. Here you go: The attorney general of Nevada is accusing Bank of America of repeatedly violating a broad loan modification agreement it struck with state […]

Many of us have been troubled that bankers and financiers have gotten off and paid no price for the financial crisis that obliterated millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in wealth–and, indeed, the CEOs and Wall Street folks are reaping huge pay packages again. The slaps on the wrist for Goldman Sachs and […]

This past week, I made the point that the conviction of Raj Rajaratnam was a tale of a relatively little fish getting nabbed, while the big fish who caused the biggest disaster and heartache for most Americans get away. Or cover-up what they have done. Bank of America, Citigroup, G.M.A.C., JPMorgan Chase and Wells […]

I’m about to dash off to a protest at the main postal office here in Manhattan for a Tax Day demonstration sponsored by US Uncut, the NY chapter of the Coffee Party and assorted other malcontents like me. In that spirit, I thought it worth leaving us with this list of the corporate tax […]

Sometimes, I wonder whether we all live in a grand farce. But, actually, it’s a real-life story about a robbery of the people that continues every day–and today is no different. The robbers grow richer. From The Wall Street Journal a story headlined: "On Street, Pay Vaults to Record Altitude": When it comes to […]

Well, who said you can’t count on stability anymore? That things are changing too rapidly. Not to worry: It was a tough year for Bank of America what with the foreclosure mess and a sagging stock price. Its chief executive, Brian T. Moynihan, nonetheless received $10 million in his first year on the […]